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Peach Blossom Spring / Qiu Ying (Ch'iu Ying) / 

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Record Details

Accession Number
1976/1.212
Title
Peach Blossom Spring
Artist Nationality
Chinese
Artist Life Dates
c.1495-1552
Medium and Support
ink and color on gold paper
Object Creation Date
1542
Object Creation Place
Asia (continent)
China (nation)
Jiangsu (province)
Creation Place 1
Asia (continent)
Creation Place 2
China (nation)
Creation Place 3
Jiangsu (province)
Style/Group/Movement
Blue-and-green style
Inscription
Inscription by Wen Cheng-ming in the right: (writing of T'ao Ch'ien's "Peach Blossom Spring") During the reign-period T'ai-yüan (326-97) of the Chin dynasty there lived in Wu-ling a certain fisherman. One day, as he followed the course of a stream, he became unconscious of the distance he had traveled. All at once he came upon a grove of blossoming peach trees which lined either bank for hundreds of paces. No tree of any other kind stood amongst them, but there were fragrant flowers, declicate and lovely to the eye, and the air was filled with drifting peachbloom. The fisherman, marveling, passed on to discover where the grove would end. It ended at a spring; and then there came a hill. In the side of the hill was a small opening which seemed to promise a gleam of light. The fisherman left his boat and entered the opening. It was almost too cramped at first to afford him passage; but when he had taken a few dozen steps he emerged into the open light of day. He faced a spread of level land. Imposing buildings stood among rich fields and pleasant ponds all set with mulbery and willow. Linking paths led everywhere, and the fowls and dogs of one farm could be heard from the next. People were coming and going and working in the fields. Both the men and the women dressed in exactly the same manner as people outside; white-haired elders and tufted children alike were cheerful and contented. Some, noticing the fisherman, started in great surprise and asked him where he had come from. He told them his story. They then invited him to their home, where they set out wine and killed chikens for a feast. When news of his coming spread through the village everyone came in to question him. For their part they told him how their forefathers, fleeing from the troubles of the age of Ch'in, had come with their wives and neighbors to this isolated place, never to leave it. From that time on they had been cut off from the outside world. They asked what age was this: they had never even heard of the Han, let alone its successors the Wei and the Chin. The fisherman answered each of their questions in full, and they sighed and wondered at what he had to tell. The rest all invied him to their homes in turn, and in each house food and wine were set before him. It was only after a stay of several days that he took his leave. "Do not speak of us to the people outside," they said. But when he had regained his boat and was retracing his original route, he marked it at point after point; and on reaching the prefecture he sought audience of the prefect and told him all of these things. The prefect immediately dispatched officers to go back with the fisherman. He hunted for the marks he had made, but grew confused and never found his way again. The learned and virtuous hermit Liu Tzu-chi heard the story and went off elated to find the place. But he had no success, and died at length of a sickness. Since that time there have been no further "seekers of the ford." To the right is the "Peach Blossom Spring." 1542, spring, third month, sixth day. Written by Cheng-ming at the age of 73. --the translation of the writing is tran. by Cyril Birch, Anthology of Chinese Literature (1965, pp. 167-68). Seal of Wen Cheng-ming following the long inscription: Cheng-ming. Additional seals: One unidentified seal at lower right corner: Lang-huan hsien-kuan ts'ang-shan, One almost illegible seal at lower left corner: Ch'iu Ying. (This was identified by Mr. James Robinson; therefore, this painting was attributed to Ch'iu Ying.)
Dimensions
20.6 cm x 54.8 cm (8 1/8 in. x 21 9/16 in.)
Century
16th century
Primary Object Classification
Painting
Primary Object Type
album leaf
Secondary Object Classification
Painting
Secondary Object Type
landscape
Physical Description
In this fan painting mounted as an album leaf, a fishing boat is moored at shore. Water stretches to the right, and above it calligraphic text recounting the story of Peach Blossom Spring. To the left of the boat, are green riverbanks, blossoming peach trees, and a man in a small cave.
Subject Matter
This fan is a rare collaboration between two famous artists from Suzhou who belonged to different social strata. The calligraphy is the work of the great literati (non-professional artist) master Wen Zhengming, while the painting is by the professional painter Qiu Ying. Literati artists such as Wen were part of an educated elite that pursued painting and calligraphy as gentlemanly pastimes rather than for financial gain. By contrast, painters who earned their living selling their work usually came from humble families and seldom had a formal education.
The scene is from The Account of the Peach Blossom Spring, inscribed on the scroll by Wen. This famous prose work written by Tao Yuanming (372–427), the great poet of the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420), tells the story of an ordinary man who stumbles upon a utopian world that he cannot find again after leaving it. The tale was reinterpreted by many Chinese poets and thinkers and has western counterparts in stories from Arcadia to Brigadoon.
Rights
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Technical Details

Image Size
1237 x 677
File Size
67 KB
Record
1976/1.212
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1976-sl-1.212/1976_1.212.jpg

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https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1976-SL-1.212:1976_1.212.JPG

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"Peach Blossom Spring; Qiu Ying (Ch'iu Ying); ." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1976-sl-1.212/1976_1.212.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 16, 2024.
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